Language credentials available

TIS National adheres to the TIS National Interpreter Allocation Policy when allocating an interpreter to your booking. You may wish to specify your preferred credential level when making your pre-booked phone or on-site interpreter bookings.

There are three main levels of interpreter credentials available through NAATI:

Certified Interpreter (or higher)

Certified Provisional Interpreter

Recognised Practising Interpreter

Some TIS National interpreters hold none of the credentials outlined above and are referred to as 'Nil-credentialed'. This generally occurs in very low demand languages where NAATI offers neither certification nor recognised practising status. These interpreters undergo TIS National interview and reference checking processes to ensure their work is of a high standard. For languages where certification is not available, TIS National may be able to allocate a Recognised Practising or nil-credentialed interpreter.

TIS National allocates interpreters in order of the allocation preferences in the table below:

Allocation preference

New NAATI Certification Model

Suitability

1

Certified Conference Interpreter

Suitable for international or high level events and meetings involving conference type settings, which require consecutive or simultaneous interpreting. Use of conference interpreting booths and equipment are often required by the interpreter to deliver interpreting services.

2

Certified Interpreter

Suitable for specialisations such as health, legal and formal proceedings. Also suitable for general conversations and interpreting non-specialist dialogues.

3

Certified Provisional Interpreter

Suitable for general conversations and interpreting non-specialist dialogues.

4

Recognised Practising Interpreter

Granted in emerging languages or languages with low community demand for which NAATI does not offer certification. Interpreters with this credential have recent and regular experience as an interpreter and are required to complete regular professional development. Suitable for general conversations and interpreting non-specialist dialogues.

5

Previous NAATI credentials

There are some interpreters who are yet to transition to the new certification scheme introduced by NAATI in January 2018. As new NAATI credentials are preferred, TIS National will endeavour to allocate interpreters with new credentials ahead of those with old credentials.
If there are no transitioned interpreters available at the time of booking, TIS National will allocate the job to interpreters who hold older NAATI credentials, starting with the highest old credential available. While these credentials do not have all the benefits of the new NAATI certification scheme, they do remain valid.

Senior Conference Interpreter

Conference Interpreter

Professional Interpreter

Paraprofessional Interpreter

Recognition

6

Nil credentialed

Some TIS National interpreters hold none of the credentials outlined above and are referred to as ‘Nil-credentialed’. This generally occurs in very low demand languages where NAATI offers neither certification nor recognised practising status. These interpreters undergo TIS National interview and reference checking procedures to ensure their work is of a high standard. For languages where certification is not available, TIS National may be able to allocate a Recognised Practising or nil-credentialed interpreter.

When making your booking, please note that certification is not available in all languages provided by TIS National. For a full list of the languages offered by TIS National see theLanguages available through TIS National.

Language

Certified Provisional

Certified

Albanian

Yes

No

Amharic

Yes

No

Arabic

Yes

Yes

Assyrian

Yes

No

Bengali (alt Bangla)

Yes

Yes

Bosnian

Yes

Yes

Cantonese

Yes

Yes

Croatian

Yes

Yes

Czech

Yes

No

Dari

Yes

Yes

Dinka

Yes

No

Farsi (alt Persian)

Yes

Yes

Filipino (alt Tagalog)

Yes

No

Finnish

No

Yes

French

Yes

Yes

German

Yes

Yes

Greek

Yes

Yes

Hakka Chin

Yes

No

Hakka Chinese

Yes

No

Hazaragi

Yes

No

Hindi

Yes

Yes

Hungarian

No

Yes

Indonesian

Yes

Yes

Italian

Yes

Yes

Japanese

Yes

Yes

Khmer

Yes

Yes

Korean

Yes

Yes

Lao

Yes

Yes

Macedonian

Yes

Yes

Malay (alt Melayu)

Yes

No

Mandarin

Yes

Yes

Myanmar language (alt Burmese)

Yes

No

Nepali

Yes

No

Nuer

Yes

No

Oromo

Yes

No

Pashto

Yes

No

Polish

Yes

Yes

Portuguese

Yes

Yes

Punjabi

Yes

Yes

Rohingya

Yes

No

Russian

Yes

Yes

Samoan

Yes

No

Serbian

Yes

Yes

S'gaw Karen

Yes

No

Sinhalese

Yes

Yes

Slovak

No

Yes

Somali

Yes

Yes

Sorani Kurdish (alt Kurdistani)

Yes

No

Spanish

Yes

Yes

Swahili (alt Ki-Swahili)

Yes

No

Tamil

Yes

Yes

Tedim Chin

Yes

No

Thai

Yes

Yes

Tigrinya

Yes

No

Turkish

Yes

Yes

Urdu

Yes

Yes

Vietnamese

Yes

Yes

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